New law limits certification exam attempts

A new law that went into effect Sept. 1, 2015, limits the number of times that an educator can retake a certification exam to four, unless waived by the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) for good cause. In most cases, this means individuals will have five attempts to take a certification examination, and if they are not able to pass an examination that is a requirement for a given certification, they will not be issued a probationary or standard certificate in that certification field.

Because the Professional Practices and Responsibilities exam is required for all areas of certification, if an individual fails to pass the PPR after five attempts, he or she will likely not be issued a probationary or standard certificate in any certification field. However, the new law does allow SBEC to waive the certification exam retake limit for good cause and SBEC plans to adopt rules detailing the waiver process which, according to TEA, are anticipated to be in effect in May 2016.

Additionally, for those who have attempted but failed certification exams prior to Sept., 1, 2015, the law provides that those attempts don’t count against the new five-attempt limit. Rather, after Sept. 1, 2015, an individual will have four opportunities to retake the examination regardless of the number of times the individual attempted the examination previously.